Tomorrow the Buffalo Common Council will vote on whether or not to make Trico Plant #1 a local historic landmark. As with many other issues, there is a period during the meeting for the citizens of Buffalo to have their voices heard. The meeting takes place tomorrow, April 24th, at 2pm in the Common Council Meeting Room on the 13th floor of City Hall. If you want to see Trico receive the landmark designation, come out and show your support, if approved, the local landmark status will ensure that the
community will have input in the future of this historic asset.
Below is an open letter that has been sent to the SaveTrico group from the Trico Citizens Coalition and is addressed to Darius Pridgen, the Council Member for the Ellicott District where Trico is located.
Dear Council
Member Pridgen:
We are
writing to ask for your support for the local landmark designation application
for the Trico Plant #1 Building. The building has been listed on the National
Register of Historic Places since the Fall of 2000 having met the required
criteria for eligibility set forth by the National Park Service in partnership
with the New York State Historic Preservation Office. Given this national
status, and the fact that the thresholds for local landmark designation is
considerably lower than that of a national register-listed building, it is
overwhelmingly apparent that the Trico Plant #1 Building is also eligible to
become a City of Buffalo Local Historic Landmark. This should be the only
relevant fact that influences your decision regarding this subject.
It is imperative
that you understand the context in which your decision should be made. As a
Certified Local Government, the City of Buffalo is required to list local
historic landmarks regardless of owner consent. It is the City’s duty and
therefore you and your fellow council members’ responsibility to approve the
local landmark designation for the Trico Plant based solely on it’s historic
significance rather than the wishes of the owner. Again, given that the
building is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is
tremendously obvious that the Trico Plant is eligible to be listed as a local
historic landmark.
The City of
Buffalo’s Preservation Ordinance was enacted in 1974 and “declared as a matter
of public policy that preservation, protection, conservation, enhancement,
perpetuation and utilization of sites, buildings, improvements and districts of
special character, historical or aesthetic interest or value are necessary and
required in the interest of the health, education, culture, prosperity, safety
and high quality of life of the people”. The preservation of historic assets is
not a matter of opinion, but rather one of public policy. As an elected
official, you and your fellow council members are responsible for enforcing
this established policy.
As outlined
above, (1) the Trico Plant #1 Building is eligible to be listed as a local
historic landmark, and (2) it is the established public policy of the City of
Buffalo to enforce such actions. It is my hope that this letter has clarified
the context in which your decision regarding the local landmark designation
application for the Trico Plant #1 Building should be made. I urge you and your
fellow council members to approve the application for local landmark
designation, and with it fulfill your obligation to the citizens you are sworn
to represent.
Sincerely,
Trico
Citizens Coalition